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Tag: creative management

FIVE TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE PLANNING

16/02/2022 /

“How can I get a little more time every day so that I can get things done on a daily basis?” This is not only the case for our private lives but also in terms of the strategic goals defined at work. Most organizations make an effort of increasing productivity through effective planning. However, effective planning is a concept known for being hard to grasp, and it can be a challenge to figure out where to start.

This Article provides five useful tips for a more effective planning:

  1. Plan Far into the Future: By creating a plan for many months into the future, you avoid the daily hurdles of finding out what is the most appropriate project to engage in. By doing this, it is easier to see the bigger picture and which small projects will get you closer to the general goals.
  2. Involve Everyone in the Planning: The planning processes are comprehensive and involve scheduling activities, delegating responsibilities and continuous coordination. Are these carried out by a few people in the organization, and much is spend unnecessarily.
  3. Use An Intuitive Tool for Effective Planning: To ensure that employees are motivated to use a digital tool, the solution should be intuitive. Keep in mind that everyone should be able to use it, and therefore, it is important that you have access to tutorials and descriptions about the features.
  4. All Activities in One Structure: This tip is related to the previous one and involves an important feature of the just mentioned digital solution. At a glance, the tool should be able to give you a comprehensible view of the plans for the year, and this is a precondition for the planning to be truly effective. When it isn’t possible instantly to get a full view, it can be challenging to get the bigger picture.
  5. Automation: The last tip has to do with the time being saved by automating processes. This could, for instance, happen by arranging emails for customers or marketing campaigns to be sent out automatically. Another example is to use a tool that allows you to set up notifications to be sent out to colleagues prior to events.

Image source: Pixabay – borevina

6 useful tips to encourage dissenters

18/08/2021 /

Dealing with dissenters in the workplace can be scary. It forces you to get outside of your comfort zone and hear criticism about your ideas, your performance, or group dynamics that might sting at first.But dissent is actually a gif: it points out gaps that need to be filled, weaknesses that need to be strengthened. When you’re open to hearing dissent, you’ll continually improve your best ideas. Plus, open communication is key to building trust in the workplace.

Dealing with dissenters in your workplace will grow easier as voicing dissent becomes an accepted part of the culture. When it’s welcomed rather than feared, people will start to present it in a more positive way rather than feeling they have to be aggressive about it or stay silent. As people put it into practice, they’ll hone their ideas into stronger plans of action.

This article provides 6 useful tips to encourage dissenters and deal with them on the workplace:

1. Ask for critiques: Soliciting criticism is the only way to make your people feel comfortable voicing it. Don’t assume they feel comfortable stating it just because you respond well to it. Ask for it assertively; show real enthusiasm for hearing it, rather than making weak statements. Explain why dissent is so important to your organization to show you’re committed to hearing and using it. Trusting your people to provide input will make your whole team shine.

2. Ask follow-up questions: To really listen to what your dissenters have to say, prompt people to explain their rationale for their dissenting opinions. If in a group discussion, ask others what they think about the dissenting opinion. Dig deep into the issue, igniting conversation that helps people more fully understand how they feel about the issue. Dissent in the workforce needs to be explored, validated, and utilized by the group to be effective.

3. Make sure the comments are directed to the people who need to hear them: Communicating dissent is only empowering if the people voicing it know it will be heard by someone with the ability to use their feedback. Make sure people know who will hear their comments.

4. Ask for solutions: Challenge dissenters to present possible solutions, even far-fetched ones. When people start thinking creatively, solutions that higher-ups never imagined might take shape. However, people should feel free to voice dissent regardless of whether they’ve thought of a solution yet or not.

5. Rework the plan together: If critiques go to only one person who reformulates the plan singlehandedly, you’ll just see different problems arise. The plan needs to be reworked by a group who can see it from different vantage points and talk through concerns that arise in the moment.

6. Express gratitude for the dissent: When you share genuine gratitude in the workplace with someone for having the courage to voice their dissent, you’ll encourage more constructive dissent in the future. Thank the person in front of the group to send the message to everyone.

Image source: Pixabay – mohamed_hassan

Richard Branson and creative management

04/02/2014 /

Richard Branson, one of the most original and successful businessmen in the world, is the founder of the Virgin Group and the author of various books on creative management. He  has became the first LinkedIn Influencer to amass 1 million followers. To celebrate this accomplishment, Sir Richard sat down with LinkedIn’s Executive Editor, Daniel Roth, to answer questions from members about the secrets to success.

To be

  • Creative
  • Status Quo Disruptor
  • Analytical
  • Logical
  • Innovative
  • Free Thinking
  • and Visionary

are some of the qualities that came out to be essential.

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In his latest book, Like a Virgin, Secrets They Won’t Teach you at Business School, he stresses the importance of leaving freedom of thought and of setting priorities to his employees and he underlines the significance of never allowing money and bonuses to be the main incentives to hard work in order to be a successful manager.

Image source: Flickr

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